USDA-APHIS Associate Administrator Shares some Trade Accomplishments

Now more than ever, producers need access to the global marketplace to
expand their businesses and enhance their profitability. This is a message that
is reinforced every time we meet with commodity representatives. These groups
have come to rely on APHIS’ pivotal role in maintaining existing markets and
negotiating new market opportunities based on sound science and meaningful
protocols.

APHIS leads the way working with our programs to manageandresolve Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) tradeissues. In fiscal year (FY) 2015 alone, we facilitated
and provided in-country support to successfullyresolve 171
trade-related issues involving $2.5 billion in U.S. agricultural exports.

Our trade staff helped negotiate market access to
China for all apple varieties from all U.S. states—a market worth an estimated
$100 million. They also facilitated highly pathogenic avian influenza
(HPAI)-related outreach and negotiations that helped the United States retain
$248.9 million in poultry exports during the worst animal disease outbreak in
U.S. history. At the same time, they were instrumental in the negotiations that
removed long-standing trade restrictions around bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE) to allow more than $13 million in exports. Finally,
they were significant in retaining our $168.7 million wheat exports to Brazil
and Kenya by conducting outreach around flag smut.

APHIS also leads several pest control programs in
the Americas designed to reduce or eliminate populations of pests like
Screwworm, Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly), and Mexican fruit fly (Mexfly).
These pests can impact trade if they are found here in the United States, and
although we have battled a number of fruit fly outbreaks this year, it could
have been far worse without this pro-active work beyond our borders.

I could fill several more pages
with the work we are doing around the world to maintain markets and foster new
opportunities overseas, but I hope what I have shared underscores the priority
APHIS places on exports, and you can expect more of the same in 2016.